Tim Cook

We are all very happy with product pipeline, and the team here has an unparalleled breadth and depth that Steve has driven in the company, and excellence has become a habit.

When Steve Jobs stepped down as Apple CEO earlier this year, Tim Cook was chosen to replace the tech world’s leading visionary. Tech-heads were skeptical, but after the highly anticipated Apple keynote and Jobs’ subsequent death in October 2011, Cook proved that he is indeed the man for the job.

MAGNETISM

Despite being lord of the computer geeks thanks to his new position as Apple CEO, Tim Cook has a reputation for being an intense fitness enthusiast, whose favorite activities include hiking, cycling and working out. But before you salivate all over your iPads, keep in mind that Cook is also a notorious workaholic (you kind of have to be to run a company as successful and all-encompassing as Apple) and is known for sending emails as early as 4:30 a.m. He’s also been referred to as the most powerful gay man in Silicon Valley, so unless you pee standing up, this billionaire is off limits.

SUCCESS

If Tim Cook seems at ease taking over as Apple’s CEO, it’s because the former VP for corporate materials at Compaq has done this before. Back in 2004, when Steve Jobs was recovering from pancreatic cancer surgery, Cook served as CEO for two months, and then again in 2009, when Jobs took time off after a liver transplant. After being promoted to Apple’s full-time COO, it seemed inevitable that Cook would fill Jobs’ shoes. Lo and behold, on August 24, 2011, Jobs announced his resignation, and Cook was appointed CEO of the world’s most successful company.

Tim Cook Biography

So how does one become the boss of the most ubiquitous, game-changing company in the world? Well, for Tim Cook, it all started in the small town of Robertsdale, Alabama, where, as the son of a shipyard worker and a homemaker, the heights of success he would one day reach seemed unimaginable. But after graduating from Robertsdale High School and earning a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Auburn University in 1982, Cook went on to obtain his MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business in 1988 while spending a dozen years at IBM in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.

After gaining a reputation for being smarter than everyone else at IBM, Cook left the company to join the computer-reseller division of a wholesaler called Intelligent Electronics, where he became COO. He then went to Compaq, where he would remain for only three months before Steve Jobs brought the rising star to Apple in 1998.

Tim Cook Rises The Ranks at Apple

When Tim Cook first arrived at Apple, his first priority was to clean up the troubling state of Apple’s manufacturing by closing down factories and warehouses worldwide while simultaneously developing relationships with contract manufacturers. So while Steve Jobs was busy branding Apple as the coolest company on the planet, Cook made sure that said company ran as efficiently as possible, a combination that turned Apple into a cash-generating machine, thanks in large part to Cook’s operational savvy.

Because Tim Cook brought a unique business acumen to a company that for a long time lacked it, it wasn’t long before he began to move up the chain of command. In 2000, he assumed control of customer support and the sales force (which saw him install Apple specialists in electronics stores all around the world, long before the first Apple Store) before taking control of the Macintosh division in 2004, the same year he would briefly replace Jobs as the company’s CEO. The following year, Cook was appointed COO, and with Jobs’ health becoming a major concern, it became clear that Cook would one day be at the helm of Apple.

Tim Cook Becomes CEO of Apple After Steve Jobs Steps Down

Tim Cook once said that no one will ever be able to replace Steve Jobs. But with Jobs’ death, it’s up to Cook to try. Early in his tenure as Apple COO, there was a consensus in Silicon Valley that Cook could never succeed Jobs because he was merely functional, his ideas not bold or brilliant enough to steer Apple into the future.

Tim Cook always had a reputation as a hard-nosed introvert, a talented businessman who was respected but feared by his employees. Others felt that Cook’s position on the Nike board helped him hone his skills in terms of product development and customer service. Cook had actually become head of day-to-day operations at Apple in January -- with Jobs making the major decisions from afar -- so when Jobs resigned, Cook was the only logical choice.

Tim Cook Makes His Debut as Apple CEO

Throughout his tenure as Apple CEO, Steve Jobs became known as much for his sublime presentation skills as he did for his innovative ideas. So it was no surprise that all eyes were on Tim Cook when he took the stage to introduce the new iPhone 4S. Already dealing with the public’s collective disappointment that they would not be seeing an iPhone 5, Cook had the weight of the world on his shoulders, and by all accounts, he responded admirably. Rather than try aggressively to separate himself from the Jobs template, Cook displayed the same passion, enthusiasm and eloquence that made Jobs the best presenter in the world. We can’t wait to see what he does next.